SURENDRANAGAR (Gaujarat): Mahendra Baghedia, Superintendent of Police Surendranagar, on Friday, clarified that Tarun Gajjar, the man who slapped Hardik Patel, is not related to any party but is just a common man.
"The man is not affiliated to any party, he is a common man. Law is taking its own course," said Mahendra.
Earlier, Tarun Gajjar had said that he had his own grievances with Hardik, for disrupting normal life in Gujarat during the Patidar agitation, which caused him to go through a great deal of hardship. Gajjar stated that he had made up his mind to teach him a lesson a long time back.
"My wife was pregnant when Patidar agitation happened, she was undergoing treatment at a hospital, I had faced problems then, I had decided then, I'll hit him. I have to teach him a lesson anyhow."
"Then again during his rally in Ahmedabad when I had gone to get medicine for my child, everything was shut down. He shuts down the roads, he shuts down Gujarat whenever he wants to, What is he? Gujarat's Hitler," said Gajjar.
Gajjar was admitted to a hospital after supporters of Hardik thrashed him after he slapped Hardik when he was addressing a gathering at the Jan Akrosh Sabha.
The Congress leader also filed a complaint with the police regarding the incident.
Patel emerged as the leader of the Patidar agitation, demanding reservation for the community in Gujarat in 2015.
On March 12, Patel officially joined Congress in Ahmedabad in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi and senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge.
Prior to joining Congress, Hardik had said he would help strengthen the ideology of the party and take it to the villages.